Fast Company

“SOMETIMES YOU FIND SECRET PASSAGEWAYS”

Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney explains what Scientology and the U.S. government have in common, how to approach uncooperative subjects, and why you should never apologize for taking narrative liberties.
Truth and consequences “I’ve become interested in abuses of power and how that works,” says documentarian Gibney of his investigative films.

Over the past year alone, you’ve shaken Scientology with the documentary Going Clear, profiled both Steve Jobs and Frank Sinatra, explored food culture for the Netflix series Cooked, and tackled cyberwarfare in your cur rent film Zero Days. With so many new outlets available to documentarians, nonfiction films have never felt more relevant—or prevalent. Why do audiences have such an appetite for them now? Documentaries have gotten better. They’re much more formally inventive. They’re engaged in stories that are really compelling. And they’ve borrowed some techniques from fiction filmmaking in terms of story. [Viewers] have also become a lot more adventurous. The world has become far more interconnected and globalized, and people are more curious and have a much more eclectic palate.

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